This is our new family favorite, and apparently the dog's favorite, too, since we came home to an empty 9x12 pan the first time I made it. She went to the trouble of taking it off the counter and removing the lid from the pan, so it must be worth the effort!

It was based on my carrot cake recipe, but with some modifications to make it a bit healthier, so I can call it a snack and eat it more often. It's easy peasy to make, and puts all of that zucchini to good use if you are sick of zucchini bread.

Ingredients:


1 1/2 cups organic sugar

1 cup coconut or sunflower oil

4 organic eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups grated zucchini

3 cups Bob's All Purpose gluten free four (or your preferred mix)

1/4 cup raw cocoa powder (of course you can use regular, but the raw has more minerals and iron)

1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp gluten free baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 bag of  chocolate chips (CF for those making this dairy free)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the sugar and oil. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and wisk to mix. Add the zucchini and flour mixture, a cup at a time, alternating each and mixing well. Add chocolate chips and stir. Pour into a greased and floured 9x12 pan (use cocoa for the flour and you won't get white specks on your cake) and bake for around 35 minutes. Use a toothpick to test.

I don't frost it, but you could dust it with powdered sugar, or frost if you are going for a traditional cake. I skip the extra sugar so I can eat extra cake!

Breakfast is our favorite meal; we like it so much, we not only have it every morning, we also have it on Friday evenings! We call it backwards night, and it evolved when pizza Fridays became less desirable after going both gluten and dairy free. Our favorite breakfast food? Waffles, of course! It took a lot of tinkering to come up with a recipe that was both gluten and dairy free but tasted like a normal waffle. We make this recipe so often that I keep a mix of the flours in a jar in the pantry, speeding up the whole baking process. Want to try it?

Mix:
3 cups white rice flour
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
3/4 cups corn flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour

Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups rice or coconut milk (or soy, or almond, or even the real thing)
4 TBS. melted Earth Balance spread
1 TB baking powder (make sure it says gluten free!)
1 TB sugar
pinch of salt

Directions:
Beat the egg whites. While they are beating, combine 2 cups mix with the ingredients listed above (yes, include the yolks). Gently fold in the egg whites. Spoon into hot waffle iron and bake until golden and crispy on the outside.

I have found that rice milk makes a thinner, crisper waffle and coconut milk makes a softer, fluffier one. I like them both. I have not used the other milks, since we are allergic to them, but I'm sure they would work just as well. these taste so much like a wheat based waffle, if you fed them to your family without telling them, they would never know the difference! I have tried many other recipes, some with a higher ratio of more protein or fiber filled flours, but they would usually come out heavy, or with that particular gluten free flour after taste. Not this one! If you try it, I'd love to hear what you think!

Well, it is the season to indulge, isn't it? I made a double batch of my favorite GF waffles on Sunday, and froze the extras. For a school day treat, I simply toasted a few waffles, and while they were warming, heated a thinly sliced green apple in the microwave for 2 minutes. A little butter, cinnamon sugar and whipped cream (also left-over) equals a very happy morning!

Yes, now I am officially a crunchy granola mom, and it's a mighty tasty thing to be.  We have been making this quick but oh so good granola at least three times a week lately. It takes about 20 minutes from start to finish, and it's so easy the kids can pitch in (or even make it, depending on their age). The amounts listed here are just guidelines. I don't actually measure anything when I make it, so feel free to improvise! This can be either a gluten-free or regular granola, depending on the oats you use (please note that some Celiacs cannot tolerate gluten free oats. Fortunately, we can). If you are using regular oats, it's a very frugal granola. Even if you have to buy the pricey gluten free oats, it's still cheaper than GF granola. Amazon.com has a good price on gluten free oats, by the way.

Family Favorite Granola

2 cups oats
1/4 cup pecans
1/3 cup dried cranberries (you could also use raisins)
1/8 cup flaxseed meal (you could use whole flaxseeds, but I always have the ground flaxseeds on hand)
1/4 - 1/3 cup mixture of brown rice syrup and honey (or you could use all honey)
1 Tbs. cinnamon
1 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

Mix everything together in a bowl. You want it to stick together but not appear wet or really moist. Spread on a silpat lined cookie sheet and bake in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Let it cool. As it cools, it will stick together. Break up the cooled clumps and store in airtight jars. I really can't tell you the shelf life, because it never lasts more than two days around here.

This is really one of those recipes where you can use whatever is in the pantry. We came up with this particular combination because nobody here is allergic to pecans or cranberries, and it happens to taste great! Try it mixed with yogurt Saturday morning or over ice cream. Or do as my family does, and eat it off the cookie sheet on the counter!

At nine Wednesday night I finally begin making cupcakes so Max could bring one to school tomorrow (another student is bringing cupcakes for his birthday). I realized an hour before that I was out of gluten free cake mix, but I found a recipe in a GF cookbook and thought I'd be okay. I should add that this was a cookbook I never use, full of starchy recipes, and the one bread recipe I tried from there was not impressive. So, why did I think I could make a decent cupcake from this book? Good question. I have no idea...
and this was the result. Yah. I have been baking for many, many years, gluten free baking for a year now, and I've never had a cake fall. Until now. So at 10:00 at night, I'm at Safeway hoping they have a gluten free Betty Crocker mix. Thank you, Betty.

I had a tub of cream cheese in the fridge, but I can't eat bagels anymore. Not one to be wasteful, I decided to make a batch of cream cheese frosting. If you have frosting, you have to have something to spread it on, so I made a batch of carrot cake cupcakes, too. I absolutely love carrot cake - anything with nutmeg and cinnamon is always tops on my list. Now it can be tops on yours, too, because here is my absolutely bestest carrot cake recipe ever. It is gluten free, but you should be able to substitute wheat flour (leaving out the xanthum gum) and get equally good results. Warning - this is a full on dessert recipe - no applesauce to replace fats here. They do freeze well, though, so you can eat a few and freeze the rest! Or you could do like I do and eat three in one day. Each meal deserves it's own dessert, don't you think?

GF Carrot Cake

3 cups organic brown sugar (I make my own by mixing molassas with evaporated cane juice, the fancy name for white sugar that has not been processed with chemicals)

1 cup coconut oil (adds richness and it's good for you!)

4 organic eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups grated carrots

3 cups Bob's All Purpose gluten free four (or your preferred mix)

1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (it makes a big difference in all of your baking baby, so if you don't have a nutmeg or microplane grater, go get one)

1 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp gluten free baking powder

1 tsp salt


Cream the sugar and oil. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and wisk to mix. Add the carrots and flour mixture, a cup at a time, alternating each and mixing well. Use an ice cream scoop to fill 22-24 paper lined muffin cups, and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Use a toothpick to test.

I wish I had such a refined recipe for the frosting, but I really don't measure much when I make it. Generally, I cream one stick of butter with 6-8 ounces of cream cheese. I add vanilla, usually two teaspoons, then I beat in about 3-4 cups of sifted organic powdered sugar until I get the consistency I want. However, there are two musts for all of my frostings: you must use a good butter, not the store brand. There is a difference. From my local supermarket I like Danish Creamery. Also, organic powdered sugar tastes superior. My local Trader Joe's stopped carrying it, so I shelled out the $5 for a pack at my grocery store. Then I read on-line that I could have made my own by whirling my $2.99 bag of organic evaporated cane juice (ie sugar) in the blender for a few minutes. Guess what I'm doing when this $5 bag runs out?

A few random bits for today. First off, if you are still making Easter decorations (as I am), you'll love this tutorial from Made blog. It's a Peeps banner!
It's a gray, rainy day today, so I tried to dress up the dull picture a bit;) It really is an easy and great looking banner. Her blog, by the way, is AMAZING. How did I not know about it before??? If you haven't been there, you should visit, and if you have a boy, you should check out her side link for celebrate the boy month. There are some great projects, especially if you are sewing for a toddler. Max is past that age, but I still found some neat stuff, and he's so skinny, many of the toddler pants projects would probably work anyway, with some added length.

Next up, it is March muffin madness at GFE. Now, why did she have to go and do this when I have a dining room table covered with sewing and art projects? Now I just want to go bake muffins! Muffins are BIG around here, and I can never freeze any because they all get eaten before I can, even when I make double batches. Yes, I will be baking up many of those delicious recipes on her site, and I'll post about them as I do. I can't wait to get baking! And finally:

another page from the bird book. Hold on to your hats kids, because tomorrow I'll be posting the tutorial on how to make this junkmail art journal. I'm sure you have all of the supplies you need in your craft cabinet and recycling bin! Hold on to that junkmail today and we'll put it to use tomorrow!

Well, they are not really from space, but that's what the kids call these drop biscuits.  They are cheesy, crispy and wonderful, even if you are not gluten free. The best part, in my opinion, is the garlic butter that gets brushed on top. Heaven. As I've mentioned before, GF food bloggers have been my saviors since going gluten free, and the recipe came from one of my favorites, GFE (Gluten Free Easily). She's actually having a fantastic giveaway right now, which you can enter here. Maybe I'll have a few biscuits with lunch - did I mention that they freeze beautifully?

So, it has been a whirlwind for the last five days. Last Thursday Max had yet more appointments, first with the nutritionist, then with the allergist. The allergist ran about an hour behind, so by the time we got in there, it was almost four. Max didn't take it well. He screamed for at least ten minutes straight during the scratch test, and proclaimed at the top of his lungs that these "doctors were all trying to kill him!" Yah, it was fun.

However, he tested positive for wheat. Starting with that night's dinner, we went gluten free. He had tested negative for Celiac through a blood test, but it wasn't the full three part panel and they are notorious for false negatives. We were scheduled for an endoscopy to test for Celiac, but I canceled it. Max declared at the allergist that this was it, he was done with appointments, and I promised this would be the last. The therapy for the allergy and Celiac are he same, so I figured we would just go with the diet and see what happened. Well, this is what happened - I went through gluten withdrawal!

I have been reading a lot about Celiac, since that's where the best diet information is found, and not only did I find many of symptoms that matched Max's, but me as well (it is an inherited disease). The first full day of the diet, the gluten withdrawal symptoms began, too. Basically, all of the nausea, GI problems and gas that I've had for years suddenly got much worse! That pretty much confirmed for me that we were dealing with Celiac. I actually got excited when I read that tooth discoloration and loss of enamal were symptoms. Max's front teeth have always been discolored, and neither his dentist nor his doctor could tell me why. I always suspected that it had something to do with his weight, and some deficiency!

There is much, much more to going gluten free than giving up bread. It is an ingredient in just about any processed food you can think of, because it is in malt flavoring, caramel coloring and many other common additives. Cross contamination is another huge issue. I had to get a new toaster, cutting board, and replace many pans and utensils (any finish that is porous or has a scratch where gluten can get in has to be replaced). Not cheap, but it actually felt good to streamline my kitchen.

So it's day 5 and I felt better today. I hope this means my symptoms will continue to get better. Max was really cranky for the first three days, but now seems pretty much back to normal. Max has taken the diet to heart, and can actually sight read the words "gluten free" on food packaging! Before our crazy week, we all started nature journals for the summer. To end this all on a lighter note, here are some of our pages:

From Madeline and Max:


and my pages: